Evolution in an Urbanizing World
“Dad, what are those birds? I’ve never seen them before” I remember asking my dad when I was younger. We were outside having a barbecue and for the first time, I noticed several green birds flying overhead accompanied by a cacophony of sounds. I had never seen or heard them before, but suddenly there they... Continue Reading →
Microorganisms are essential members of soil ecosystems, and they form complex, interactive networks [4] including communications and interactions with each other that are similar to human communities. The soil microbial community contributes to global ecological stabilization by providing various terrestrial ecosystem services, such as nutrient cycling and degradation of pollutants [4]. Moreover, the soil microbial... Continue Reading →
Effects of urbanisation, habitat characteristics, and management on garden pond biodiversity: Findings from a large-scale citizen science survey Zsuzsanna Márton, Barbara Barta, Csaba F. Vad, Beáta Szabó, Andrew J. Hamer, Vivien Kardos, Csilla Laskai, Ádám Fierpasz & Zsófia Horváth Abstract The rapid expansion of urban areas often leads to degradation, fragmentation, and loss of natural habitats, threatening biodiversity. While urban ponds might contribute substantially to the biodiversity of urban blue-green infrastructure, the... Continue Reading →
Artificial light at night (ALAN) is one of the most significant environmental changes of the past century.1 In 2020, there were approximately 361 million streetlights globally,2 and ALAN continues to increase at an alarming rate of 7%-10% per year.3 But how does this rapid expansion affect wildlife, particularly nocturnal creatures like bats? Research suggests that... Continue Reading →
Domestic Cats (Felis silvestris catus; Felis catus) are a human commensal, said to have started their relationship with us during the era of the first settled farmers (approx. 12.000 years ago) within the Fertile Crescent region of the middle east.1 We took them into our homes and slowly transformed them into the royalty that a lot... Continue Reading →
Who would ever have expected to see plovers on the banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai? The Huangpu River is the "mother river" of Shanghai that flows north throughout Shanghai. It passes some of the most population-dense regions of the city, including Lujiazui and the Bund, and provides green paths on both banks for... Continue Reading →
By Veerle Langezaal During the Covid-19 lockdowns, a grassroots movement emerged where botanists in France, the UK, and the Netherlands began chalking plant species names on sidewalks. This initiative aimed to educate communities about the ecological importance of these plants, challenging the perception of them as mere weeds. This movement has since evolved into a... Continue Reading →
Walid-Dani Kaki “In none of his works did Nature show her originality more than in insects”(Pliny the Elder) In recent years we have seen a steady decline in biodiversity, with devastating consequences for the natural world and human populations. The tendency of people to migrate to urban areas has led to their chaotic development at... Continue Reading →
The City Nature Challenge is an annual competition among hundreds of international cities to increase awareness of urban biodiversity. Last year’s challenge totaled 1,694,877 observations, 50,176+ species, and 67,220 participants across 450+ cities worldwide. Check if your city is participating in this year’s challenge! If not, join the global project this year and sign-up your city to participate in 2024’s challenge! This year’s challenge is active starting tomorrow, April 28, to... Continue Reading →
Going Wild in the City--Animal Feralization and Its Impact on Biodiversity in Urban Environments T Göttert, G Perry Abstract Domestication describes a range of changes to wild species as they are increasingly brought under human selection and husbandry. Feralization is the process whereby a species leaves the human sphere and undergoes increasing natural selection in... Continue Reading →
Check out Lauren Cook's 'The New Urban Jungle' to explore ways to make your backyard a suitable habitat for urban wildlife! https://twitter.com/UNBiodiversity/status/1632788135401619470 Featured image: screenshot from 'The New Urban Jungle' video
Check out this video of Zoë Rossman discussing the vibrant and diverse wildlife in Albuquerque, New Mexico! https://twitter.com/ABQcitynature/status/1635393208393023488 Zoë is a wildlife photographer and Ph.D. candidate studying urban coyotes (Canis latrans), and other large mammals, at the University of New Mexico. In 2021, she sat down with Laura Paskus of New Mexico PBS to discuss... Continue Reading →
Harnessing soil biodiversity to promote human health in cities X Sun, C Liddicoat, A Tiunov, B Wang, Y Zhang, C Lu, Z Li, S Scheu, MF Breed, S Geisen, YG Zhu Abstract Biodiversity is widely linked to human health, however, connections between human health and soil biodiversity in urban environments remain poorly understood. Here, we... Continue Reading →
Temperature and not landscape composition shapes wild bee communities in an urban environment Costanza Geppert, Andree Cappellari, Daria Corcos, Valerio Caruso, Pierfilippo Cerretti, Maurizio Mei, Lorenzo Marini Abstract 1. More than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase. Even if urbanisation is widely regarded as a... Continue Reading →
Uneven biodiversity sampling across redlined urban areas in the United States Diego Ellis-Soto, Melissa Chapman, Dexter H Locke Abstract Citizen science data has rapidly gained influence in urban ecology and conservation planning, but with limited understanding of how such data reflects social, economic, and political conditions and legacies. Understanding patterns of sampling bias across socioeconomic... Continue Reading →
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